Close the perception gap: no one wants to be seen as a complainer.(blatant berry)

A RECENT STUDENT ESSAY DESCRIBED HOW perceptions of library operations differ dramatically when you compare those of administrators with those of front-line staff. The essay sparked a long, heated discussion in my class at the LIS program at New York's Pratt Institute. It triggered memories of old and new manifestations of this most common communication gap in libraries. Although the difference is often negative vs. positive, more often it is simply an alternate perspective on the library's service, relations with patrons, changes and innovations, and policies. It always shows up when library workers at various levels in the organizational hierarchy chew on the limits of staff to act …